Clinical Experiences

A fundamental part of your education is your participation in clinical experiences.

Clinicals include any field experience—practicum, internship or volunteer hours—in on- or off-campus learning environments that provide you with real-world, hands-on clinical practice. Learning to synthesize theory into practicality will help you transition from student to professional.

ES 429 Internship

For your final semester of the exercise science program, you’ll register for ES 429 and complete a 12-credit full semester internship. You are required to complete a total of 480 hours for this full-time internship. Most students complete approximately 30-40 hours per week for 12-16 weeks to meet the 480 hour requirement.

You’ll work with our clinical education director to secure an internship site and gain valuable experience from our department’s more than 200 clinical affiliations, including the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University at Buffalo Division of Athletics. Some locations, such as Athletes’ Performance in Arizona, the Golden Door Spa in California and Hilton Head Health in South Carolina, provide on-site housing, meals and/or a weekly stipend.

You may choose an internship with a non-affiliated site, but we will need to process an affiliation agreement first. This can take up to several weeks (or even months) and should be started early. The spring or summer preceding your senior year is not too soon to start contacting potential sites.

ES 496 Practicum

Think of a practicum as a “mini-internship.” You can complete a practicum at any of our affiliated sites. While a practicum is not required, the credits count as ES elective credit and it’s a great opportunity to gain more experience and learn about what you can do with your exercise science degree.

You have the option of registering for one, two or three credits. You could take a one-credit practicum one semester and two-credits another semester at a different site. However, no more than a total of three credits of practicum will count toward your undergraduate degree. You will be required to work three hours per week for 15 weeks for every one credit hour. A Student-Instructor Contract must be submitted to Mary Dedrick to be registered for your practicum.